I had the chance to visit with a few
extraordinary people the other day from English National Opera. Quite
admirably, they are beginning a project where they open channels of
communication with writers they might not have come across before, just exploratory,
just beginning conversations and this was
the first in a series of salon events that they are planning as part of
their Talent Development programme. It's an opportunity for intimate
conversations to take place between some of the extraordinary individuals
working on productions at the ENO and younger writers, to open up windows into
the world of opera. Very
pleased to be able to speak to them, knowing how much my stuff with the
Guildhall and the Sinfonietta brought me joy and expanded my practise into new
areas. Who knows what'll come of it, but a lovely beginning was had when I got
sit in on an intimate discussion given by Frank McGuinness, the playwright and
poet, and Julian Anderson, the composer, who have just collaborated to produce
the Thebans, http://www.eno.org/thebans the
latest production at the Coliseum for the ENO.
It was an intense, educational hour, one that seemed to bracket off the discussion, and the very specific creative world these two men had worked in, so that everyone in the room was fully entrenched in their pursuits and ideas, that of a librettist and a composer. Such was the intensity, the discussion was, by necessity perhaps, at times, somehow private, but not at all pretentious, perhaps a indulgence of necessary energy, of conviction and it was deferent, humourous and profound at the same time. It became very personal too, disarmingly so, and emotional. At times, being someone who always tries to interrogate the notion of the 'writer' as a figure, I was uncomfortable, just by the sheer intimacy of the exchange, but I was, afterward, deeply excited, realising the intensity of this kind of collaborative process, and the responsibility, so massive, that the writer faces in such a relationship. Clearly the trust, and the skill, required to produce an opera like this is so mountainous, that the challenge of it got under my skin. To have to write well and quickly, and incisively, and be ready to let all be broken apart, that is what I'm seeking to do now really, always, anyway, making it new in form and tone. Much to think over, hopefully more to come.
